Tuesday rail news: — The U.S. Surface Transportation Board on Monday approved Canadian Pacific’s purchase of the Central Maine & Quebec, effective June 18. Canadian regulators had already approved the purchase of trackage in Canada. The STB approval of the purchase — officially by CP’s U.S. subsidiary, Soo Line Corp. — denied a request by […]
More Monday morning rail news: — Buffalo’s effort to extend its 6.4-mile light rail system by 7 miles from downtown to the Universty of Buffalo’s north campus could be sidelined in favor of bus rapid transit. The Buffalo News reports that the Federal Transit Administration has directed the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority to revisit the […]
Monday morning rail news: — Today through Wednesday, the Federal Railroad Administration will conduct public hearings by phone on its proposed safety and operating standards — the “Notice of Particular Applicability” for the Texas Central high speed rail project [see “Passenger,” June 2020 Trains]. Those rules essentially would adopt the standards of the Japan Central […]
The bumpy relationship between the Reading & Northern and the borough of Jim Thorpe, Pa., has hit another roadblock, apparently meaning the railroad will not resume tourist rail operations in the community. The Lehighton (Pa) Times News reports that the railroad is balking at an ordinance that would have exempted its operations from a local […]
A BNSF manifest freight heads east through Naperville, Ill., on April 20, 2020. BNSF saw first-quarter earnings fall as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. TRAINS: David Lassen OMAHA, Neb. — BNSF Railway’s first-quarter revenue and profits declined as traffic volumes sank due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the railroad’s parent company, Berkshire Hathaway, reported on […]
Sunday rail news: — Union Pacific is furloughing most of the employees at its North Little Rock, Ark., locomotive shop because of the downturn in business triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, and is also furloughing workers at its car shop in De Soto, Mo. The Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette quotes UP spokeswoman Kristen South as […]
More Friday morning rail news: — Canadian National has filed suit against protesters in British Columbia who blockaded its tracks in February, seeking damages, a permanent injunction against blockades, and an enforcement order by police. The CBC reports that the suit against unnamed individuals who blocked its main line between Smithers and Terrace, B.C., on […]
WASHINGTON — Coronavirus complications and missing interim deadlines still put railroads at risk for missing the year-end deadline for full positive train control implementation in the U.S. In a Government Accountability Office document released this week, the agency reports that railroad officials say they are confident their companies will meet the Dec. 31 deadline, but […]
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Carload and intermodal traffic has bottomed out and has started to rebound amid the COVID-19 pandemic, freight forecasting firm FTR Transportation Intelligence said today. “Weekly volume data from the Association of American Railroads and analyzed by FTR shows that rail volumes, in the intermodal and carload sectors, are likely near the bottom,” […]
A pair of Metrolink trains depart from L.A. Union Station via the five-track station throat to be modernized as the first part of a project to make the station a pass-through, rather than stub-end, facility. TRAINS: David Lassen An LA Metro light rail train passes a waiting Metrolink train at LA Union Station. Right now, […]
NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk Southern has idled the hump at Linwood Yard in North Carolina due to the steep traffic downturn related to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Due to unforeseeable business circumstances, including volume declines due to the global pandemic and the abrupt economic downturn, Norfolk Southern is reducing operations at our Linwood Terminal by idling […]
Friday morning coronavirus-related rail news: — NJ Transit employees will have the opportunity to be tested for COVID-19 beginning next week, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has announced. NJ.com reports that unions and a transit advocacy group had asked for testing for front-line transit workers who have the highest risk of exposure to the virus. […]
